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L'Arche Atlantic Region (Canada) is part of an international organization dedicated to the creation and growth of homes, programs, and support networks with people who have intellectual disabilities. Founded in 1964 by Canadian Jean Vanier, L'Arche is now an international movement operating in 39 countries, and on every continent. A Few More Key Facts About L'Arche Worldwide, L’Arche is organized into regional and national groupings of independent, locally operated agencies which it calls “communities.” Most L’Arche communities are comprised of between 2 and 8 homes; many also support apartments, day programs, and workshops of various kinds. Most L’Arche regions are comprised of between 2 and 8 L’Arche communities, and are overseen by a Regional Coordinator. As of May 2010, there were 146 L’Arche communities worldwide, including 5 in Atlantic Canada

L'Arche in Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canadian L'Arche communities can be found in the provinces of Nova Scotia (Antigonish, Cape Breton, Halifax, and Wolfville) and New Brunswick (Saint John). Together, these communities operate:

• 17 houses and 3 apartments, providing homes for 70 persons with intellectual disabilities and their “live-in assistants”;
• 7 day programs, providing meaningful and creative out-of-home daytime options not only for most of L’Arche’s 65 residents, but for 23 others as well.

L'Arche in Canada
In Canada, L'Arche communities can be found in most provinces:

The Mission of L'Arche
The mission of L'Arche, as defined by L’Arche International, is:

• To make known the gifts of people with intellectual disabilities;

• To foster the development of communities that respond to members' changing needs; and

• To engage with local cultures and to work toward a more human society by:
• Creating small faith-based communities of friendship and mutuality between people who have intellectual disabilities and others.
• Developing life-long support systems with people who have intellectual disabilities, especially with those who are extremely vulnerable due to old age and/or multiple disabilities; and
• Highlighting the unique capacity of persons with disabilities to enrich relationships and to build communities where the values of compassion, inclusion and diversity are upheld and lived by each person.

The L'Arche Model
L’Arche homes and programs operate according to a not-for-profit “community model” which is distinct from "client-centered", “medical”, or “social service” models of care:

At L’Arche:

• People with intellectual disabilities, and those who assist them, live together in homes and apartments, sharing life with one another and building community as responsible adults;

• Everyone is invited to take responsibility for the growth and life of the home, program, and community to which they belong;

• People are encouraged to relate to one another primarily as equals and as friends, rather than as “clients” and “staff”, or as “patients” and “care-givers”;

• Everyone is believed to have the capacity to grow and to mature into adulthood, and to make a contribution to society, regardless of the physical or intellectual limitations with which they may be living;

• The important goals of achieving personal growth and maturing socially as an adult are things which are understood to be nurtured most effectively within the context of a community whose policies and practices support and promote, among other things:
• the development of long-term, mutual, interdependent relationships;
• the maintenance of a stable, life-giving home environment;
• the training and ongoing formation of those who provide assistance to community members with intellectual disabilities; and
• cooperation with outside professional care providers when required.

L'Arche as a Faith-Based Organization
As a faith-based organization, L'Arche maintains, promotes, and strives to act upon the following principles:

• That whatever their strengths or their limitations, people are all bound together in a common humanity;

• That everyone has the same dignity and the same rights, including the right to life, to a home, to work, to friendship, and to a spiritual life;

• That a truly just and compassionate society is one which welcomes its most vulnerable citizens, and which provides them with opportunities to contribute meaningfully to the communities in which they live; and

• That systems of belief--be they secular or religious--make the world a better place only when they promote the dignity of all human beings, inspiring us to be open to people of different intellectual capacities, social origins, races, religions, and cultures.

For more information about the vision and mission of L'Arche,
click here to view the "Charter of L'Arche."

What Others Have Said About L'Arche
Jean Vanier, the founder of L’Arche, was named “Nation-builder of the Year” by The Globe & Mail in 2009, while L’Arche itself has been recognized for:

• Pioneering a unique model of care-giving that is recognized around the world.
• In an article published in 2006, the Washington Post observed that L’Arche “operates what many in the mental disabilities field consider some of the planet's best and most humane group homes.” (Source: “The District Bureaucracy Bears Down on a Dream” by Marc Fisher, Washington Post, December 5, 2006.)

• Creatively promoting the contributions of people with disabilities as full and equal members of society.
• In a research document published in 2006 by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), L’Arche was described as the only housing model in Canada (for people with intellectual disabilities) whose group homes can be “identified as a best practice.” (Source: “Housing for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities” in “Research Highlight”, CMHC, March 2006.)

• Facilitating understanding amongst people of different faith and cultural backgrounds.
• In 2002, the Award-Winning documentary film-maker, Karen Pascal, profiled L’Arche and Jean Vanier in her documentary “Belonging: The Search for Acceptance” (Windborne Productions - http://www.windborneproductions.com/belonging.html)

• Developing a variety of school, family, social and corporate programs which highlight the place of persons with intellectual disabilities in our society.

• For more information about educational materials developed by L’Arche for high schools and universities, visit http://www.larche.ca/en/education.

In order to realize our vision of building a more inclusive Canadian society,
L'Arche Atlantic Region needs your help!

Become a volunteer, tell others about our work & our vision,
keep us in your prayers, or
make a financial contribution to help us in our mission!

Any help that you can offer to us will be greatly appreciated!

For more information, call 1-902-449-4172, or send us an email.